Dispensing unit for sheet and/or ribbon products packaged in reels

ABSTRACT

A reeling display unit for sheet and/or ribbon products has a frame with at least one level receiving the sheet or ribbon in rolls. Each roll rests on a rear brace fixed to the frame and on a movable transverse bar sliding under the weight of the roll or rolls into engagement with a front brace secured to the frame. The sheet or ribbon products are fed upwardly between the transverse bar and the front brace to be retained there after desired lengths are cut therefrom.

The invention relates to a reeling display unit for sheet and/or ribbonproducts packaged on reels, from which certain lengths of said productsmust frequently be taken.

Said reeling display unit is especially, but not exclusively, for use byflorists.

In order to dress their floral presentations with a generallytransparent sheet or film, e.g., of cellulose or polypropylene material,and/or a ribbon, florists must have available an assortment of ribbon ofdifferent sizes, styles, and colors, as well as sheets or films ofdistinct widths.

Therefore, in order to facilitate their choice, this entire assortmentmust be disposed on a reeling display unit which is as small as possibleand enables the easy unrolling and cutting of a certain length of thesheet or ribbon chosen.

In presently known reeling display units, the spools of the reels arealways slipped onto axes supported on a frame.

Because of this, each axis can support only one spool, which multipliesthe number of axes to be provided and complicates the frame whichsupports them, failing which the replacement of one spool requiresunloading several, which entails a great loss of time.

Whether done with a pair of scissors or with a cursor device, cutting isalways done at a certain distance from the spool, if only to facilitategripping the edge of the product for another cut.

Unfortunately, unless the reeling display unit comprises acounter-roller for lifting the product--which is rather complicated andbulky--this edge falls back over the reels on lower levels andinterferes with their display and delivery. On the other hand, upstreamfrom the cursor, with the sheet being free, cutting requires holding thetwo sides of the end of said sheet in order to obtain a clean cut.

Finally, with known reeling display units, after a certain time instock, the sheet or ribbon product may have collected dust which mayremain on the cut sheet and affect its appearance.

One result contemplated by the invention is a reeling display unit forribbon or sheet products packaged on reels which will take up a smallamount of space, cost little, and nevertheless be provided witheffective means for lifting the edge of the product to facilitategrasping it and to prevent it from falling over the reels of products onlower levels.

Another result contemplated by the invention is such a reeling displayunit, in which the sheet or ribbon is held at a point upstream from thecutting point in order to enable a clean cut by simply grasping thecenter of the edge of the sheet or ribbon, and which is also capable ofensuring the cleanliness of the sheet by removing possible dustparticles.

Another result of the invention is such a reeling display unit which,although it comprises a series of reels placed side by side over atleast one level, enables any of the reels to be replaced withoutrequiring the others to be removed.

To do this, the object of the invention is a reeling display unit of thetype described above, particularly characterized in that at each levelit comprises two transversal jaws, upstream from the cutting point andlocated essentially in the same horizontal plane, which hold betweenthem the product, which has previously been inserted between them frombottom to top.

The invention will be best understood using the following description,given by way of non-limitative example and with reference to theattached drawings, which represent:

FIG. 1 a radial cross-section of the reels supported on two differentlevels of the reeling display unit;

FIG. 2 a cross-section along II--II of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a cross-section along III--III of FIG. 1.

The display includes a frame which consists, for example, of uprights 1,beams 2, and braces 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, formed from assembled tubularsections.

Without departing from the scope of the invention, reels 9, 10 ofproduct 11, 12 may be supported or suspended.

The ribbon reels are preferentially supported, in order not to multiplythe suspension means reserved for products in large sheets.

In the supported reel version, the latter, with their side-piecesessentially side by side, are set on edge above two braces 6, 7 of theframe but actually rest directly only on rear brace 7, resting onforward brace 6 only through a transversal bar 13, mounted at its endson guides 14, which are integral with crossbeams 2.

The weight of reels 9 then drives transversal bar 13 against brace 6.

This transversal bar 13 and forward brace 6 thus form jaws, bothsituated in the same essentially horizontal plane, between which, frombottom to top, is inserted product 11. In the case of a ribbon product,a cutting device might obviously be provided, but its narrow width andthe fact that the user will nevertheless have to use scissors to shapeand dress said ribbon dictate that cutting will generally be done withscissors, downstream from the jaws, so that the end of the ribbonthereby remains well held and in raised position for easy grasping.

Placed simply beside each other on beam 7 and bar 13, without use of anycentral spindle, the reels need not be removed whenever one of them mustbe changed. In the suspended reel version 10, in order likewise to avoidthe central spindle which, given the width of the reel, would tend evenmore in this case to weigh down the display--spool 15 of reel 10 is,according to one characteristic of the invention, simple provided withmutually independent end stub assemblies 16.

These end stub assemblies preferentially consist of an expanding plug 17which is centered and wedged into the opening of spool 15 uponactivation of screw 18, which draws nut 19 toward ring 20, between whichis arched a ring 21 in the shape of a deformable barrel. Either directlyor through a ring 22, the outer part of stub 16 of each end of spool 15is gripped by a hook 23, supported by a slide-block 24 which is movedtransversally, using control knob 25, between two braces 3, 4 so as toadapt to the width of reel 10. Due to this fact, several reels may beplaced essentially end to end on the same level. Similarly, for holdingthe edge of sheet 12 in raised position, the frame has two jaws 26, 27,upstream from the cutting point, consisting of two transversal bars, ofwhich one (26) is integral with the crossbeams 2 of the frame, and theother (27) is mounted so as to slide on tracks 28, parallel to saidcrossbeams, with respect to which said tracks are stationary. Slidingjaw 27 is constantly pushed towards stationary jaw 26 by an elasticelement such as a leaf spring 29, supported on one side against movingjaw 27 and on the other against a brace 4 of the frame. From bottom totop (so as not to fall back over the reels on lower levels), the edge ofthe sheet is initially inserted between the jaws, where the sheet willthus be held over its entire width, providing an excellent gripfavorable to a clean cut, requiring nothing more than a simple hold atthe center of the free edge. To facilitate the initial insertion of thesheet, sliding jaw 27 can be drawn back manually. As an aid in graspingit, it is equipped with a control knob 30. In order to avoid tearing thesheet thus held between the jaws, and in order further to clean itsystematically, at least the active surfaces of jaws 26, 27 are providedwith a lining 31, 32, e.g., of imitation felt. Downstream from the jaws,the frame is further equipped with a transversal bar 33, which forms aslide for a cursor 34, provided at each end with an interchangeableblade 35, 36. A head 37 facilitates grasping of the cursor and shieldsthe ends of the blades.

I claim:
 1. Reeling display unit for sheet and ribbon products packagedon reels, from which certain lengths of said products must frequently betaken by cutting, at a set point, using a cursor device or a pair ofscissors, comprising a frame have a minimum of one level, means on saidframe for supporting at least one reel and, slightly upstream from thecutting point, two transverse jaws on said frame situated essentially inthe same horizontal plane holding the product between them, the producthaving previously been inserted from bottom to top between said jaws,further comprising at each level of the frame, in a horizontal plane,perpendicular braces and crossbeams, supporting side-pieces of the reelsessentially side by side on edge above two of said braces of said frameand resting directly on only a rear one of said two braces, a transversebar engaging the forward one of said two braces and taking the weight ofthe reels, guides supporting said transverse bar at opposed ends in saidcrossbeams, said transverse bar being pushed toward said forward braceby the weight of the reels, forming with said forward brace said twojaws for gripping the product.
 2. Reeling display unit for sheet andribbon products packaged on reels, from which certain lengths of theproducts must frequently be taken by cutting, at a set point, using acursor device or a pair of scissors, comprising a frame having at leastone level, means on said frame at said at least one level supporting atleast one reel, two transverse jaws on said frame slightly upstream fromsaid set point, situated essentially in the same horizontal planeholding the product previously inserted from bottom to top between saidjaws, and further comprising at each level of said frame in a horizontalplane, perpendicular braces and crossbeams, sliding blocks moving overcertain of said braces and means connected to said blocks for suspendingthe reels, said means further including two mutually independent endstubs centered and wedged directly into end openings of the spool of thecorresponding reel.
 3. Reeling display unit according to claim 2, eachof said stubs consisting of an expanding plug and a ring carried by saidsuspending means.
 4. Reeling display unit according to claim 2 or 3,said suspending means being an open hook.
 5. Reeling display unitaccording to any one of claims 1 through 4, in which the two jawsconsist of two transverse bars, one of said bars being stationary withrespect to said frame, a track parallel to said cross beams the other ofsaid bars being slidably mounted on said tracks and urged toward saidstationary bar, and a lining for at least the active parts of said jawsfor preventing tearing of and for cleaning the product.